How To Grow A Pineapple-Or Try To

I am full of thrifty-ness and I feel a ping of guilt every time I throw something away that I know I could use down the road at some point.  Even worse than being thrifty is my strange feeling that plants deserve to live just like people and I feel like a murderer when I don't try to save a plant from winter or another calamity.  Due to this my house is filled with annuals that I couldn't leave outside to let die.  My cats also sometimes attack my Christmas Cactus plant and break off "branches" and these branches will sprout roots and grow if you soak them in water-therefore I have about three different pots of Christmas Cactus and the number is way down because I pawned a few off as house warming presents.  I discovered my feelings about plants were different from everyone else when I worked at a home with kids with psychiatric disorders.  This one kid was a hoarder and he took the trash out one day and returned from the bin with a little spider plant in a paper cup.  He had pulled it out of the trash with the explanation that it was going to die-the other staff were upset with him for taking things out of the trash, but I completely understood his drive to keep the plant and I let him keep it so it would grow and thrive.  Now onto the point of the post, my mom also has a green thumb and showed me one time how to grow a pineapple from the top of the fruit, and ever since then I feel guilty when I throw the gorgeous green top in the trash.

1.  Buy a whole pineapple from the store, cut off top.
2.  Peel the bottom layers of leaves off until you have a "bulb" about one inch long. (See Pic)
3.  Set somewhere dry like the top of fridge and let air out for a few weeks.
4.  Put bulb in water-like in a jar or cup and wait.
5.  In  a few weeks roots will start to appear and let these grow until they are at least an inch long.  Sometimes the bulb will rot off and usually if you can just pull off the rotten part and you will see the roots.
6.  Plant your new plant in a pot with well drained soil.  Don't over water or it will rot. In a few years you should be able to enjoy fruit although I have at least a three year old plant that has yet to produce, but it makes a good conversation piece.

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